According to a report by the Social Age, Facebook tops the list of sites that children sign up to under-age.
52% of children between 8 and 16 have admitted they had ignored the official age limit which is 13.
The study also found that although 59% of children have delved into social networking by 10, only 32% of parents feel ‘very confident’ about their children’s safety online.
Social networking at such a young age exposes children to negative comments, where a poll found 21% have posted such comments, and 26% had ‘hijacked’ or ‘fraped’ another person’s account.
What is even more worrying is that around 43% of children had messaged strangers, starting from an average age of 12.
The study also found that children are more likely to post up videos or images of themselves or set up a fake profile for the first time by 11, try message strangers on twitter by 12 and try other social media services such as SnapChat by the age of 13.
Meanwhile, only 63% of parents check on their children’s internet activity and 21% are not confident with parental controls.
Child psychologist Dr Richard Woolfson said that the internet offers good experiences for growing inquisitive minds.
'Yet, as social media has removed the barriers between a young person's public and private self, children can become vulnerable, and compulsive online sharing can lead to danger.
'As this study shows, children are gaining access to social media sites at a younger age, which could expose them to content, people or situations that are out of their depth and which they're not emotionally prepared for," he said.
He adds that parents need to maintain an open dialogue and encourage children to share both good and bad experiences online, talk openly about the risks they may encounter and make sure to keep up with the latest social media craze.
Opinium surveyed 1,006 parents of children aged eight to 16 online and 1,004 children aged eight to 16 last October.
By Shein Shanin
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